Crossing the border with Blue Jays beat reporter Jordan Bastian.

Why not…

It’s been a while since I posted, so I guess this is as good of a time as any. It’s not looking like the Jays are going to give me much to post about between now and the Winter Meetings as it is. I’ll be heading down to Nashville Sunday night, and I plan on posting on here daily while I’m down there for the meetings.

The Jays front continues to be a cold one. Shi Davidi of the Canadian Press did bring everyone an update this week on Vernon Wells’ recovery from shoulder surgery. He should be able to start lightly swinging a bat in about three weeks and he expects to be ready to go for Spring Training. The Jays are certainly hoping his numbers can return to form.

Toronto hasn’t been doing much, but it sure has been a busy offseason. The Torii Hunter signing makes the Angels pretty stacked now (although one has to wonder if the Mitchell Report will come in to play with Gary Matthews Jr. — time will tell) and the Yanks appear to be making a push for Twins ace Johan Santana.

Then again, everyone’s looking one way and focusing on the Santana rumors and BAM! the Twins pull a six-man swap with the Rays to reel in Delmon Young. That’s certainly one way to help replace Hunter. The Rays pick some much-needed pitching help in Matt Garza, but I still think the Twinkies come out on top in the deal by landing one of the top young bats in Young.

Well, unless something happens, this will probably be my last post until I land in Nashville. But don’t worry, I’ll be bringing play-by-play posts to detail Toronto’s exhaustive hunt for a No. 2 catcher. Can you feel the drama unfolding?

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In reviewing the TB-Twins trade, I can now see why TB did the deal. They have a good looking outfielder in AAA who hit 20 Hr’s this year,drove in 73 rbi’s and hit .309 named Justin Ruggiano who certainly looks ready to take Young’s place. They probably won’t miss Young at all.

Matt Gaza will fit well with Shields and Kazmir and give TB the start of a high quality rotation. If they get relievers to go with these guys, look out for Tampa Bay in 2008.

They are going to be tough-like we needed more tough competition in the AL East.

Has anybody heard anything on what Freddy Garcia might be asking for ? I personally would like to see the jays take a chance on him. I know he had a terrible year but before ’07 I considered him to be a really good 3 starter.

I’ve also read that Paul Lo duca might be interested in coming to Toronto but that J.p. doesn’t want to tie into a multi-year contract. I say go for it. Yes the jays do have Diaz and thigpen making huge strides, but nothing is a sure thing. The jays also thought they had a promising shortstop in Russ Adams and look what happened there. Passed up on Troy Tulowiski becuase of it. Anyway my point is try and sign Lo duca and if Thigpen and or Diaz do rise up to expectations u can always use one of Diaz, Thigpen or Lo duca in a trade.

LoDuca will be 36 in April, is coming off a contract that paid him $6.6 million, has a bad reputation for late season slumps and has declining defensive skills-(other than that he’s great- lol). He’s done or close to it and likely wants 2-3 years.

Either Thigpen or Diaz are better options. Why would you ever consider trading one of them to keep a 36 year old has been?

Freddy Garcia is coming off a contract that paid him $10 mill per year. I look at Garcia very simply. If he’s not good enough for Pat Gillick, he’s not good enough for the Jays.

Bad year or not, Garcia has been earning in the $8-9 million range, probably too rich for the Jays budget. You would have to slot him in the #3 spot, and would he win that many more games than a Marcum or a McGowan? When you consider that our last 3 guys make just a tad over a million total, any extra wins would come at a pretty steep price.
Same thing with Lo Duca. He would be a nice addition, but you would have to take money from somewhere else to pay him, and give up a couple of draft picks, and would that necessarily win you more games? If you have to take from Peter to pay Paul, it usually ends up a wash in the end. Not to mention that if they dumped Zaun, my wife would go and burn the place down!

ESPN.com reported on Thursday that the Red Sox and Twins have discussed a potential deal in which center fielder Coco Crisp, left-hander Jon Lester and promising Minor League shortstop Jed Lowrie would head to Minnesota along with one other prospect in exchange for Santana.

**Come on JP give Theo a call about Jed Lowrie-he’s obviously in play.

I had no idea Paul was actually that old. Thought maybe he would be 33 34. In that case it’s a huge difference in the way I would aproach him. I see where u guys and j.p. are coming from now. I’m also curious whom u guys think is the better gamble Matt Clement or kris Benson? Just saw on sportsnet that the jays are considering using the old powder blue uniforms as alternates for the upcoming season, sounds good to me (though i wasn’t old enough to remember the jays playing in them.)

Blue or not, they won’t do us much good unless they c/w a Carter of a Fernandez inside them. Besides, I think the guys will draw the line at ‘fros. Clement ate up a lot of innings until 07, but I wouldn’t hold my breath on either he or Benson unless they come with a bargain basement price tag. Our problem in not pitching, but hitting. Our pitchers threw a lot of quality starts last hear that went for nothing because we couldn’t hit with runners on base. This is the main reason we have a new batting coach, and it will be interesting to see if Denbo can help.

What do you guys and girls think the Jays should do if Troy Glaus gets suspended for steroids and has to sit out 50 games? I have a feeling that nothing will happen but who knows with Bud in office. Do you think we could have Overbay or Stairs play 3rd and the other play first and bring up Lund? What are our other options?

At this time, it’s an allegation, not necessarily true. Baseball has not confirmed any punishment for players who allegedly took this stuff or got delivery of it. The penalties in place are for failing a drug test and are 50-game suspensions for testing positive for steroid use and 25 games for amphetamine use. Glaus has not failed any drug test that I’m aware of.

I doubt MLB change this stance, since if Canseco is right, the majority of players in the league took something and will be reveiled in his next book to arrive soon.

Glaus likely won’t face a suspension for drugs unless he has failed a drug test, but he will likely have to sit out a few games for other reasons. You will probably see Scutaro at third in that case. Stairs won’t play third unless Scutaro, Adams, Olmedo, Luna, and possibly Sergio Santos aren’t available.

I would love to se LoDuca come to Toronto, especially if its for one year. Yes he is 36, but Zaun is a year older…. If Toronto wants to compete, they definatly need an upgrade at Catcher. Zaun is 37 and not going to get any better. A platoon with him and LoDuca could be a good situation for both. Look at Zauns numbers when Molina was in town they were the best he has ever had. Plus LoDuca threw 30% of basestealers last year, even if he declines to 25% or 20% this year thas an improvement over what we have right now. Diaz and Thigpen can wait…they will be good catchers at best.

According to Tsn.ca the new york teams, and la teams have asked about Bedard. It didn’t say that Baltimore was looking to trade him, but what i was dissapointed in was that Toronto didn’t make an inquiry.

Since the mets now have a better catching option then Estrada, could the Jays get in on Estrada ??? Especially since it was reported he was offered as a throw in and then rejected ? Just thinking as a backup catcher, who has some pop and could do some pinch hitting ? I didn’t look up how good he is at throwing out guys, but just a thought

You guys must not be aware of how good Diaz is. This year his numbers were:

.338 BA in AAA. Only struck out 22 times in 366 at bats. Great contact hitter. Threw out .400% of attempted steals in AAA.

If he hadn’t gotten injured, he’d been called up in September,and likely be starting for us this spring.

Diaz is the reason JP doesn’t want to sign anyone expensive and old. I’d bet Diaz is up here before the all star break-maybe sooner. JP is looking to sign someone as short term insurance, nothing else.

LoDuca and Estrada are both expensive, old or getting old and will definately want 2-3 years.

Hey, I’m not on JP’s side often, but I am this time. Spend the money elsewhere.

one must question JP’s motives, is he trying to build a team of losers,keeping towers is Madness but then Abner & JP are not exactly Towers of strength either , got to be one of the weakest pairings in the league

Litsch,

Jansenn

Chacin

would be my choice for 5th starter in that order.It would be great to see Bedard Or Joe Blanton come to Toronto ,but then we might be winners ,JP could not handle that.Ian

I’m not much of a fan of J.P., but I’m not sure how any GM at the helm of the Jays right now could possibly swing a deal for Bedard or (to a lesser extent) Blanton without really blowing up this team. Just wondering, but who do you think the Jays could package together to get someone as good Bedard?

gsumner:

Your faith in the Jays farm system is awesome! I’ve got big expectations for Diaz, too, but I think even if he hadn’t been injured last season, we wouldn’t be seeing him as a starter in 2008. He needs more time in the Minor system and then, likely, some time as a backup behind a Major League veteran who can show him the ropes. Also, from what I’ve read in some scouting reports, he really needs to improve in the fundamentals of being a catcher — i.e. blocking the plate, setting a target, and calling a good game. It’s great that his hitting and his arm are showing such promise, but you need your catcher to be savvy in those fundamentals before he’s really big-league ready.

We do have a small surplus of pitching ,giving up one of Jansenn,Litsch,or Chacin,plus cpl prospects For Bedard,Towers is just a waste , I left him out cos I would not want him in a gift, But maybe the price would be too high , I am not fully aquainted with all the ins & outs of this trading game( due to me being from Scotland where we just buy Or sell players) Ian

I have faith in some players, not necessarily the entire system; Diaz is one of those players, as is Lind, Purcey, Snider, Cecil, Romero and Ty-to a lesser degree.

The draft reports you mention were quite some time ago-he didn’t get selected as an all star and futures game participant this year by not being able to call a game.

Where would we be this coming year, if we hadn’t given guys like Accardo, Janssen, Wolfe, Litsch, McGowan and Marcum a chance to prove their worth? That’s how you end up with good young players-by playing them, not leaving them in the minors.

Of course, he needs more experience; my point on him though, is he’s likely to get better experience and training up here working with Ernie and Zaun and become polished faster, than he is in AAA. I could have also included Abner-but we both know that isn’t gonna happen.

If we expect Diaz and Thigpen to be the dual catchers in 2009, we’d better give Diaz some MLB experience asap.

Frankly, I’m pleased that Jays management is thinking the same way, and refusing to get committed to some old, over paid has been for the next couple of years.

Talks between the Orioles and Eric Bedard seen to have ceased. The Orioles tried to sign him to a long term agreement, which would have kept him under their control past 2009.

Since that doesn’t appear likely, The Orioles are apparently entertaining offers for him. Since years 2008 and 2009 are already “locked in” at reasonable value-considering how good Bedard is, The Orioles would demand a King’s ransom for him. I would expect we’d have to give up two of either Litsch, Jansen, Marcum, McGowan, or Accardo and some prospects like Lind to get him.

gsumner: If my memory serves me well, the scouting report I read actually came out just before he was injured this past season. Also, I’m not sure an All-Star selection instantly means he’s good at catching intangibles — unfortunately those kind of selections are often given to players simply based on their offensive numbers alone and one thing is for sure, Diaz has some pretty great offensive numbers!

I’m thinking the Jays will not go for another big name catcher. I think some of the guys being mentioned (LoDuca, Estrada, that guy from the Rockies) are just having their names thrown around by their agents to drive up their potential salary. The more teams that are “interested” in them, the more likely someone will overbid on their services.

So I’m guessing it’ll be Zaun and Fasano with Diaz and Thigpen in the minors. If one of the old guys gets injured (which seems likely), then Diaz or Thigpen will get their shot. If they can hit big league pitching and handle the pitching staff well, then maybe Fasano will get cut loose and be replaced. I think Thigpen has the advantage so far, so we might not see Diaz in the big leagues until the September call-ups.

The Burnett for Bedard trade seems very practical for both teams… Burnett in my opinion is looking to have a big year so he can opt out and cash in, so why wouldn’t the Jays look to deal him to his home town team where he would be likely to sign an extension. This should make a lot of sense to Baltimore since they would be in a much better position to win now with Burnett then they will with prospects or youngsters. Obviously this trade would be great for the Jays as well seeing as they get a power lefty which they need and a guy that actually is hoping to come here, that doesn’t happen too often.

Burnett & 1 (Patterson comes to mind) for Bedard. Obviously this is all based on if Baltimore actually wants Burnett

Absolutely you deal Glaus for Figgins but i’m not sure hendrick would be included in that deal. I believe Hill is a perenial gold glover in future years at 2nd. At short he would be good but not spectacular. A Figgins Glaus deal would mean Gibbons would have to be way more aggresive with baserunning. Small ball would actually be an option for them with Figgins in the leadoff spot and Johnson down in the lineup.

I was thinking along the same lines. We trade glaus for figgins and maybe a minor leaguer. Now that we have a legimate lead-off we trade Reed Johnson and some one else for Jason Bay. I heard that the pirates wanted to shop Bay and since bay is canadian he probably wants to come to canada.

If we can get bay then this will be our line-up

figgins

overbay

rios

thomas

wells

bay

hill

zaun

mcdonald

not bad especially if overbay goes back to 06 form and rios continues where he left off.

Then with whoever we have left we shop for Bedard. I would even offer, chacin, thigpen, lind, litsch and Shea Overbae or someone in the minors for Bedard. With bedard now we don’t have to worry about Burnett opting out because even if he does then we have bedard and that gives us one spot to put in some minor leagures like purcey or cecil brett.

Id have a bad feeling that Bedard would cost us much more then our rag tag band of misfits (Chacin, Towers, Lind,Adams)

Id think, that it would probably take Romero,Snider, Accardo(since they need a closer), and possibly Frasor. They need young hitters, and a new Bullpen !I just think they are going to want to restock the farm and go young ! Hopefully they wouldn’t make us take one of their bad contracts in the trade too. Melvin Mora ewwww

I have always loved the idea of getting rid of Glaus, and was quite disapointed when we didn’t last year, especially after he had a down year.

I would hope the Jays could get more then Figgins for Glaus — Nick Adendart ? that would be pretty sweet !

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The Angels’ big offer for young hitting star Miguel Cabrera included top young hitter Howie Kendrick, young catcher Jeff Mathis, one of two coveted young pitchers — Nick Adenhart or Ervin Santana — plus an additional pitcher prospect described as a “mid-level” talent, SI.com has learned.

**That was what I meant by looking a bit desperate. It appears LA are convinced they need a power bat at 3rd base.

I’d pass on Mathis,one of their pitchers and the lower level pitching prospect but gladly take Kendrick and ask for Figgins instead. I actually think LA would do the deal.

We would give up home runs, but gain speed at the top of the lineup-which is one of the things I think we’re missing.

If Chacin comes back reasonably strong, Baltimore might be interested in him. Where they really need the help, though is the pen, so maybe Chacin, Litsch and Frasor.

You really can’t go much farther than that or we risk lossing some of our nice depth in pitching. If Ryan was back, we could put one other reliever like league in the package-that for sure would likely get the deal done.

You’d think that the Angels would swap Figgins and Kendrik for Glaus straight up ? That would be very interesting.

I got to say i just don’t agree with what your thinking itd take to get Bedard. It will be a high price paid for by whoever trades for him. And i don’t think Litch could be the principle figure in the deal.

If you review my post in reference to Bedard, you’ll see I stated “2 of the following”. My personal opinion is Bedard likely wont be moved. Baltimore have this history of shopping guys and then pulling them back. That’s what I expect them to do with Bedard.

However, to get him would likely cost McGowan and Accardo and Lind.

Personally I think the price is too high, and as much as I like the guy, I wouldnt do the deal.

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